Dao Cheng Gui Xian

Chapter 40 Cherry Blossom Bridge

The bright moon hangs high in the sky, as if it were daytime!
With a city god guarding the city, Wufang City is much safer than the area outside the city, but the residents inside still prefer to go to bed early and rarely go out.

There is only one place in the city that is different from the rest: the western part of the city.

The West City is lined with brothels, where a hundred flowers bloom in competition. It is a den of extravagance for all kinds of wealthy gentry in the Five Directions City. Naturally, such a place is brightly lit and filled with revelry all night long!
Following the west street of the main city, passing the Three Immortals Pavilion, and continuing onward, at the end, just like in the south city, there is a moat surrounding the main city, with a bridge spanning it.

However, as more distinguished people have passed through this area, the river sections and bridges here have acquired rather elegant names.

The river is named Rouge, and the bridge is called Falling Cherry Blossoms!
Later, to match the occasion, people replaced the willows on the bank with cherry blossoms. As May approached, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. A gentle breeze carried away the petals, which danced gracefully in the moonlight.

The cherry blossom bridge is an even better backdrop!

Such a beautiful scene, yet no one stops to admire it.

Besides those busy heading to the West City on the other side for pleasure, rumors of several people disappearing from the Cherry Blossom Bridge over the past few days have already spread throughout the Five Directions City.

To seek pleasure at this moment is already fraught with great danger!

For a beautiful woman, fine; for a beautiful view? You might as well just go to sleep!

If someone were to witness this at the bridgehead, they would find that:

At dusk, pedestrians hurried to and fro on the Cherry Blossom Bridge;

At the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), figures kept moving towards the west side of the city on the Cherry Blossom Bridge;
At 9 PM, a few scattered figures quickly passed by!
As midnight approached, the figures passing through Zhengcheng West Street finally disappeared completely, while the string and bamboo music on the opposite bank became thoroughly lively.

Of course, no one would be so bored as to record these things at the bridgehead on a normal day.

But things are different now!
There are three people as bored as this!

Li Wushou, along with Lin You and Feng Sishui, had been waiting under a cherry blossom tree by the bridge since after 5 PM.

Three sticks of incense were placed under the cherry blossom tree. The rising smoke enveloped the three people, lingering and not dissipating. This was the Concealing Incense that Lin You had specially prepared, which could conceal one's aura.

Feng Sishui has also been in high spirits these past few days. He successfully became a minor priest, and his status at home has risen rapidly. Although he was a little awkward about Li Wushou becoming a high priest, he had long since changed his mindset over this period of time.

When he heard that Li Wushou was going to take him out to investigate the missing persons, he was first shocked. He was not as talented as Li Wushou, and if he encountered any evil spirits, he might very well die!

So he had been on edge since the hour of You (5-7 PM), and now that it was midnight, he hadn't noticed anything unusual. Feng Sishui relaxed a little and stared blankly at the brothel on the opposite bank.

West City, a place I never even dared to dream of!

Once I receive my salary, I'll definitely go out and make my way in the world, to show off the skills of Little Priest Feng!
Li Wushou was still sleepy and a little drowsy. Usually, he would have already fallen asleep by this time. He raised his vantage point and looked at the Cherry Blossom Bridge several times. The scenery was quite nice.

Unfortunately, Li Wushou was not a poet who appreciated scenery, so he was naturally a bit listless!
If anyone is constantly on guard, it's Lin You. Having experience going out several times and exorcising evil spirits within the city, Lin You always maintains sufficient vigilance.

It wasn't that he didn't want to relax, but rather that he had witnessed teammates die mysteriously because they were too relaxed.

Lin You glanced at Li Wushou and Feng Sishui, but dared not speak ill of Li Wushou. Instead, he patted Feng Sishui on the shoulder.

"Be careful! These evil spirits are too strange. If you're not careful and fall for them, you'll have no chance to regret it!"

Feng Sishui composed himself, then patted his cheeks and gave Lin You a grateful look.

Li Wushou silently gave Lin You a thumbs up! In his early years, he and the old beggar had been begging outside and had encountered many strange things. It was this kind of mindset that allowed him to live a little longer.

But it's only a little more!
Sometimes, whether someone lives or dies has little to do with how ordinary people behave!

Time passed by, minute by minute.

Just after midnight, people began to return from the west side of the city.

At the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), even more caravans returned, with sedan chair bearers carrying their sedan chairs and rushing quickly across the bridge.

By the time of Yin (3-5 AM), fewer people were returning!
Feng Sishui muttered enviously, "They must have all stayed overnight!"

Li Wushou stretched, having spent the entire night lying in wait without any results. It was almost time to clock in again in an hour, and it seemed he would come up empty-handed. Lin You thought the same thing; the incense behind him was about to burn out, and he began to plan for a good night's sleep.
“Plop!”

Suddenly, a splash echoed on the tranquil banks of the Rouge River.

Meanwhile, on the streets of the western city, two groups of people, carrying two sedan chairs one after the other, stepped onto the Cherry Blossom Bridge.

Li Wushou's expression hardened, and he raised his gaze again to look around.

“Plop!”

Another splash echoed in the water, a sound that was remarkably clear in the silent night. The sedan chair bearers shivered involuntarily and quickened their pace.

Feng Sishui and Lin You also noticed something was wrong and quickly took out two Yin energy talismans from their pockets and held them in their hands.

This Yin energy talisman can help the minor priest temporarily control Yin energy and prevent evil spirits from getting close.

Unlike Lin You, Feng Sishui's hands were trembling violently, and he kept muttering the incantation to activate the talisman, afraid that he would forget it later.

"Thump~ Hehe~"

On the Rouge River, ripples spread out, and the sound of a plunge could be heard, mixed with a few laughs!

Just like children playing in the river on a summer day!

As soon as the two sedan chairs reached the middle of the bridge, the porters heard the clear, distinct sound of children's laughter, which gave them goosebumps.

Recalling the rumors of the past two days, they knew they were in deep trouble!
He quickened his pace, attempting to cross the Cherry Blossom Bridge in one go.

Suddenly, a strange force field twisted out, and the sedan chair carriers felt a heaviness between their brows, followed by a wave of dizziness. After regaining their composure, the once bright moon and sparse stars of the night became hazy!
A mist had risen over the bridge, and no matter how hard they ran, they couldn't break through!
Hehe~!

Another burst of laughter came, and a child who looked about five or six years old suddenly emerged from the mist.

The child, wearing a red bib, was fair-skinned and clean-cut, with wet hair hanging down his head. Upon seeing the sedan chair bearers, he stared intently at them, licking his lips.

"Hi~!"

The sedan bearers gasped; this child looked incredibly sinister!
Moreover, how could a child be alone on the Cherry Blossom Bridge at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM)?

"Quickly, get the amulet!"

The lead sedan bearer shouted, and the sedan chair he was carrying immediately fell to the ground. The nobleman inside swayed, but did not scold him. Instead, he quickly took out a talisman from his pocket.

The sedan bearers held aloft the talisman pouches in their hands, which contained incense ash obtained from the City God Temple. It carried the City God's aura, and ordinary evil spirits dared not act recklessly!

The child kept his eyes fixed on the crowd. When he saw the sedan chair bearers frantically pulling out their talisman pouches and pointing them at him, he suddenly grinned.

Hehe~!

The sedan bearer's hand was scalded, and the triangular talisman packet containing incense instantly burned!

The sedan bearers felt a chill run down their spines. "Hiss—it's over!"

The child walked barefoot toward the sedan chair carriers, leaving a wet footprint on the bridge with each step. Clearly, the "plop" sound was the sound of the carriers jumping into the water.

Despair grew on the bridge, and the sedan chair carriers closed their eyes in terror.

Suddenly, a gentle voice of advice reached my ears:

"Kid, diving is not allowed here!"

As always, thank you to every reader who has made it this far. I have some good news to share: thanks to everyone's help, this book has passed the second round of recommendations. The third round of evaluation will take place next Tuesday, and the required reading time will double. Please continue reading! If it passes the third round, it will be within reach of being listed on the Sanjiang list, which is unimaginable for a newcomer. Please help me! Thank you all! Wishing you all good health!

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(End of this chapter)